The celebrating didn’t end once the dedication of the $43 million Evie Garrett Dennis Campus in Green Valley Ranch was complete. Dennis, the retired superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, was whisked off to the Crowne Plaza Hotel Denver International Airport for a reception put on by her daughter, Pia Dennis Smith; her cousin, Faye Wattleton; and members of Epsilon Nu Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Dennis, a 2008 inductee to the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, came to Denver following her graduation from St. Louis University. She initially worked as a researcher in the field of children’s asthma; she started teaching in 1966, and was eventually charged with implementing and monitoring the U.S. District Court order to desegregate the Denver Public Schools. Dennis was appointed deputy superintendent of the DPS in 1998 and superintendent two years later. She retired in 1994.

In addition to education, Dennis also has made a name for herself in the world of sports. Starting as a supporter of her daughter’s high school track team, she went on to have leadership roles with the Rocky Mountain Amateur Athletic Union, USA Track and Field, the U.S. Olympics Committee and the U.S. Sports Academy. She is a 2004 inductee to the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame and twice served as chef de mission to the Pan Am Games as well as to the 1988 Olympics.

Guests at the reception included representatives for U.S. Sen. Mark Udall and U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (Paul Sample and Deborah Parsons, respectively); Larry Borom, chairman of the DPS Black Education Advisory Council; and Terry Nelson from the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library. Dennis’ cousin, Faye Wattleton, was president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1978-92. She is also the co-founder and past president of the Center for the Advancement of Women.

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.